`bios_hle` (default on) is the player-facing "skip the BIOS and go
straight to the game" flag, and it did nothing under the bundled
OpenBIOS: choosing OpenBIOS sat the player in the boot animation while
the identical build on retail SCPH-1001 went straight to the game.
Root cause was ordering, not policy. The tier has two axes with
different per-image requirements:
* boot-skip needs only `shell_entry_phys`, works under pure LLE
(nothing is synthesized — the shell call just returns
immediately), so any image exporting it can skip
* kernel-call needs `deliver_event_ret`, the kernel's own
DeliverEvent `$ra`, or a delivered callback returns to
the wrong PC
main.cpp correctly refused the call axis on an image without
`deliver_event_ret` by assigning `bios_hle = false` — and then derived
`boot_skip` from that already-mutated flag. OpenBIOS omits
`deliver_event_ret` (B0 semantics unvalidated) but DOES export
`shell_entry_phys`, so an available skip was cancelled by an unrelated
refusal, and one flag meant two things depending on a BIOS detail no
player can see.
Both axes are now decided by one pure, dependency-free function,
`psx_bios_hle_plan()` (runtime/src/bios_hle_plan.c): the boot decision
reads the REQUESTED `bios_hle`, each axis is gated on only the anchor it
needs, and refusals are reported at startup instead of downgrading
silently. `psx_bios_hle_configure()` clamps `boot_skip` to
`shell_entry_phys != 0` as a backstop so the banner and `hle_dump`
cannot overstate what can fire. The main.cpp local is renamed
`bios_hle_requested` and is no longer written back from the plan — the
`session_reboot` path re-enters that block, so folding a refusal into
the request would have made a netplay rematch differ from first launch.
Also in this pass:
* A BIOS profile's `[runtime]` block was parsed into
`BiosConfig::runtime` and read by NOTHING, and bios/OpenBIOS.toml
carried an inert `bios_hle = false` there that read as the reason HLE
was off on OpenBIOS. It was not. `load_bios_config` now REJECTS
`[runtime]` in a BIOS profile: a profile states facts about an image,
never preferences.
* `psx_icache_fastpath_test` had been unbuildable ("redefinition of
`psx_advance_cycles`" — the test's counting stub vs the header's
`static inline`), which blocked every runtime test registered after
it. It now builds with `PSX_OVERLAY_DLL_BUILD=1`, the seam
psx_cycles.h already provides for a TU supplying its own advance.
Tests: new `bios_hle_plan_test` pins the matrix, including a 64-case
sweep asserting the boot decision is independent of
`deliver_event_ret` and the call decision independent of
`shell_entry_phys`. Runtime ctest 15/15, recompiler ctest 30/30.
Validated on Ape Escape (SCUS-94423) built against this framework with
both backends linked, headless, all four cases:
OpenBIOS default bios_boot=skip to game; route=2 fire at vec 0x30000
ra=0xBFC06EA8 (the continuation OpenBIOS.toml
documents); in-game on screen
retail default bios_boot=skip to game; route=2 at vec 0x30000
ra=0xBFC0702C; in-game on screen; differs only in
bios_backend=HLE (LLE fallback)
PSX_BIOS_HLE=0 bios_boot=real intro; ring empty (no hook)
KEEP_INTRO=1 bios_boot=real intro; ring empty
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
These are not stale-by-omission; each asserts something the code does not do,
and each was verified against the implementation before editing.
docs/BUILDING.md
- PSX_ENABLE_VULKAN was documented "off by default" in two places. It
defaults ON (runtime/runtime.cmake:778). Corrected both, and noted that
the build option being ON does not make Vulkan the runtime renderer.
- Removed the PSX_BUILD_COSIM row: no option() for it exists anywhere in
the tree. Replaced with PSX_NETPLAY, which is real (runtime.cmake:194).
- Step 2 (regenerate BIOS) was labelled "(Optional)". It is required before
the first runtime build: step 3 configures psx-runtime from
generated/OpenBIOS_full.c and fails at configure time without it
("Cannot find source file" / "No SOURCES given to target"). Regenerating
the *retail* backend remains genuinely optional; that distinction is now
explicit.
- "This repository has no required git submodules" contradicted .gitmodules
(recomp-ui, lib/recomp-net) and README's --recurse-submodules clone.
Replaced with a table of which submodule each build option needs.
docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
- Same Vulkan default correction.
- Removed the claim that BIOS and game configs merge with "game wins on
scalar keys". No such merge exists: load_bios_config is called only from
the recompiler front-ends (main_bios.cpp, and main_psx.cpp solely to build
the BiosAddressModel) and never from runtime/src/main.cpp.
docs/config_schema.md
- Same merge claim, stated in more detail. Replaced with the actual runtime
precedence: env > CLI > settings.toml > game.toml > compiled default.
docs/STRING_TRANSLATION.md
- Header said "SPEC (design only - no implementation yet)" above a shipped
feature: runtime/src/text_xlate.cpp (~970 lines), initialised from
main.cpp, configured via [localization]. Marked IMPLEMENTED and added the
public entry points.
docs/FEATURES.md
- Layer A (dynamic DLL overlay loading) was headed "SHELVED". It is the live
production dispatch path: overlay_loader.c is ~4,400 lines with 15
LoadLibrary sites, last modified 2026-07-26, and COMPILING_OVERLAYS.md
documents shipping the resulting .dll shards in releases. Added a status
banner and kept the original account as history, since the CRC-keying
dead ends it records are still worth reading.
docs/BIOS_SELECTION.md
- Claimed the identity gate checks "size, CRC32, SHA-256". It checks size
and CRC32 only (bios_backend_for_file, main.cpp:1088-1089); image_sha256
is recorded metadata and never enters the accept/reject decision.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Make the repo approachable for outside contributors and an IDE integrator:
- New contributor docs:
- docs/EXECUTION_MODEL.md — semi-technical tour of the static / native-overlay
/ interpreter execution model and how coverage gaps get plugged.
- docs/ARCHITECTURE.md — component-level view (recompiler, runtime, LLE+HLE
BIOS, overlay backend static->gcc->tcc, renderers, oracle model).
- docs/BUILDING.md — accurate dependency table, per-platform prereqs, build
steps, and the submodule + local-junction framework-linking setup.
- CONTRIBUTING.md — distilled core rules, verification expectations, PR flow.
- Declutter root: move ~14 internal dev-logs into docs/internal/ (history
preserved via rename) with an index README; repoint CLAUDE.md references.
- README: correct build recipe, LLE+HLE + overlay-backend summary, links to the
new docs.
- code_provider.c: update the stale backend comment to the real static->gcc->tcc
resolution (dead SLJIT.md reference removed).
- config_schema.md: drop the obsolete "once Phase A2/A3 ships --config" note.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Alex Vanderveen